


The Words on Your Skin

by EverShadow



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-02
Updated: 2013-01-02
Packaged: 2017-11-23 08:13:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/619965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverShadow/pseuds/EverShadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Watching your best friend fall in love can be frustrating, especially when you see it before she does. (Talex, from Kelley's POV).</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Words on Your Skin

Kelley’s known Tobin long enough to understand even the most minute changes in her expression. She knows that if her lips are strained against her teeth, it means, “I’m trying to smile and act interested, but failing miserably.” When Tobin’s jaw shifts ever so slightly, it’s a sign she’s angry, but she’ll never show it. Tobin doesn’t blush when she’s embarrassed, instead, her ears pull backward. It’s taken Kelley years - years of playing together from the minute they were called into U-20s together to when they’re called up for the real deal - to decipher Tobin, to pick through her layers and know what she’s saying even when she’s silent.

“Hi, my name is Alex Morgan.” Tobin’s body is a book, and tens of thousands of words spring from her every movement as she goes to shake Alex’s hand for the first time. Kelley reads her, reads the way her eyes linger long after Alex has turned to shake someone else’s hands, understands the slight gape in her mouth as she watches Alex introduce herself again to Lauren. She sees the way Tobin’s hands are still formed, as if she’s still holding Alex’s hand.

Tobin reads so clearly, so simply that Kelley can’t help but grin and laugh at everyone else who can’t see it. The team shoots her strange looks for exploding in the middle of introductions but they shrugs it off; Kelley’s always been weird, she’s always breaking out into strange antics with no rhyme or reason. This time, though, she has a reason, and she giggles at the secret only she knows. She wonders how it’s not obvious, that everyone else was staring at her except Tobin, except the girl transfixed by the new comer. Tobin probably doesn’t even understand why. If she were to put it in words, she would need but one to echo what Tobin was thinking.

“ _Shit.”_

Kelley smiles to herself and shakes her head when Tobin, to whom the ball was usually an extension of herself, trips over her own feet when Alex heads the ball her way.

_This must be what falling in love looks like._

~**~

“So...what do you think about Alex?” It takes all of Kelley’s self control, what little there was, not to grin knowingly. She has to get up and fix herself a glass of water so that Tobin doesn’t see the smile and doesn’t see the way she’s holding back her laughter.

“She’s cool. Pretty green around the gills, but cool.”

“She’s fast, yo.” Tobin does that. She uses “yo” when she’s trying to play off something that’s really important to her. “Yo” and “dude” were two words that, when used within a minute of each other, meant Tobin was 100% serious about whatever she was topic she was on. “Think she’s faster than Rampone? I mean, Rampone’s really fast but dude...” Kelley chokes down her water, trying her best not to reveal to Tobin that she already knows what Tobin’s probably still trying to figure out.

_Oh you’ve got it bad._

“I don’t know.” Kelley manages as Tobin idly flips through the channels. She’s still flipping when Kelley sits back down and Kelley knows Tobin’s completely absorbed in her thoughts. She wrenches the remote from her hand and picks the soccer channel.

“Oh cool, Brazil’s on.” Tobin mutters but the way her eyes stare straight through the screen, the TV might not have even been there. Kelley settles back on her bed, glancing at Tobin every now and then. Tobin lets out a breath, as if she was going to say something, but shuts her mouth.

_You can’t even form a real sentence._

Kelley rolls her eyes. It’s a first for her, this new side of Tobin. She thought she’d seen just about everything but infatuated Tobin? This is new, and this is hilarious.

“She seems pretty cool.” Kelley says, taking the words right out of Tobin’s head. “We should ask her to hang out with us sometime. The way Tobin brightens and grins make Kelley want to smack her upside the head a little.

“That’d be cool, yo.”

~**~

Tobin has zero idea how to even begin interacting with Alex, so she settles for just hanging next to Kelley on the bed, awkwardly staring at Alex. Kelley has to fill the space with conversation enough for the two of them, and she tries, she really, really _tries_ to pull Tobin into it but Tobin’s so far gone that Kelley wonders if there’s any hope. The worst part about it all is that Kelley can feel Tobin’s displeasure at how easily she and Alex get along, how easily talking comes to them. She can sense it in the way Tobin’s shoulders bunch and tighten whenever Alex laughs at something Kelley says.

_That’s because I’m not head over heels, you dummy._

“So, Alex, how did you get into soccer?” They’d been talking about life in California, something they both had in common and sadly a topic Tobin could not offer any insight and Kelley does her best to gear the conversation back to something where, if Tobin were to finally pull her head out of the clouds, all of them could discuss.

“Oh, you know, just kicking around a ball in the backyard with some of the kids from the neighborhood. I guess my parents thought I was good enough, so they stuck me in a club and now, here I am. What about you?”

“Oh, you know, same.” Kelley replies and they turn expectantly towards Tobin.

_For Christ’s sake, Tobs, this is your chance._

“Same...” Tobin mumbles to herself and Kelley resists the urge to punch her in the arm. Instead, she lets her eyes flick up to the ceiling.

_If there is a God, please, please help Tobin out._

“Hey, so Tobin here’s a master at juggling, you ever see her videos?” Tobin’s ears pull back so far they make her whole forehead taut.

_This is for your own good._

She grabs her computer, and Alex sits so close to Tobin that their knees touch. Kelley smartly positions herself in front of the two, so that if they somehow magically wind up making out, she would not see. But Alex leans into Kelley and Tobin does so as well to close the space. Without even looking, she knows Tobin’s looking at Alex again as discretely as possible.

They watch the video and Alex lets out a “woah!” every so often. Kelley can feel Tobin’s body relaxing, and she thanks whatever higher power created YouTube.

“You will definitely have to show me sometime.” Alex says to Tobin after the video finishes. “Like, for real.”

“Yeah, yeah definitely!” It’s the most Tobin’s said all afternoon.

“I mean like, that’s so cool!” Tobin laughs and Kelley realizes that she still doesn’t know all of her. She’s learning new things about Tobin by the minute because she’s never seen her eyes shine quite so brightly as when she stares at Alex Morgan.

~**~

Kelley doesn’t need to read Tobin’s expression to know where she’s been the next day. The very fact that Tobin comes back to the room three hours after practice has ended, sweaty and grinning from ear to ear tells her where and with whom she’s been.

“Did you show her how to catch it on the back of your neck?”

_Did you show her the way your smile lights up a stadium in the dying light of the sun?_

Tobin shoots her a shocked look, inquiring and almost panicked, as if her friend of more than six years should not be so privy to her personal life. But the look fades, replaced by one of complete content.

“Yeah. She’s a fast learner.” She doesn’t use “yo” or “dude” once when describing her after-practice-practice with Alex Morgan. Her excitement is real, unbridled, and Kelley sighs in relief when she realizes she only needs to stand back and watch from now on.

~**~

She doesn’t need to spend years figuring out Alex. Alex is far more forward than Tobin could ever hope to be, and it’s only because Tobin is as dense as a five-foot wide concrete slab that she doesn’t see the way Alex’s hands constantly seek out Tobin’s body under the thin guise of “oh, I’m cold, Tobin keep me warm” (it’s 90 degrees out) or “you were awesome at practice, let me just hold you for a minute” (Tobin’s spent most of it on the sidelines watching). She thinks that Tobin has to know when Alex leans over one day and plants a kiss on Tobin’s cheek for something as trivial as holding the door for her.

Tobin does stub her toe on that same door and it’s all Kelley can do not to lock them in a room together until they admit their feelings for each other.

Then again, they may starve to death before that happens.

~**~

“Hey Kelley?” It doesn’t take a genius to decipher the meaning behind Tobin’s knees drawn up to her chest and the waver in her voice that signifies that she’s troubled.

“S’up dude?” Kelley asks.

“I think...” Tobin mumbles straight into her knees. “I think I really like Alex Morgan.”

“What?” Kelley’s surprised response isn’t to the revelation that Tobin more than just _liked_ Alex, it was to the fact that she figured it out at all. She’s glad Tobin takes a moment before repeating herself because she needs to collect herself enough to pretend the confession shocks her.

“I really like Alex.” Tobin repeats before burying her entire face in her arms.

“I really like her too.” Kelley does her best to play the oblivious friend. In part she wants Tobin to reveal it all. Tobin doesn’t just _like_ Alex, and she’s hoping Tobin’s cut through her own thick skull to realize that.

“No, I mean, I think...”

_So close..._

“I think...”

_Just say it._

“I think I’m in love with her.” Kelley forces a smile down, instead, she put on the mask of the incredulous roommate just hearing Tobin’s darkest secret.

“Alex? _Alex Morgan._ ” For a second, Kelley fears she’s too obvious, her shock too forced. But Tobin’s too wrapped up in herself, figuratively and literally, to see through her ruse. Tobin nods, only her hair visible by how buried her face is in her own embrace. Kelley stifles a snort.

“How long?”

“I dunno...probably like...a month now, month and a half?” Kelley bites her own lip.

_Oh, Tobs, keep going. Try three months. Try the first time you laid eyes on her._

“Jeez.” Kelley whistles low and lets the silence fill in the rest because she’s known for so long that she doesn’t know what the proper words are to express just how “rattled” she is by the declaration.

“Are you...are you mad?”

_Amused._

“No,” Kelley replies diplomatically slowly. “Well, a little.” When Tobin’s head shoots up and searches her eyes for any sign of disgust or anger, she can’t help but let a smile escape. “I’m mad you took so long to tell me, dummy!” Tobin’s reaction is instant. She starts crying even before Kelley touches her.

“What do I do?” Kelley folds her up in her embrace and rubs her arms and shoulders comfortingly.

“I don’t know. Do you want to tell her?”

“What if she doesn’t feel the same way?”

_I swear I’m going to jump off a fucking roof._

“Well, you don’t know until you try, right?” Kelley kisses the top of Tobin’s head and hugs her tighter. Tobin goes quiet, and she rest her chin on her arms thoughtfully. Kelley takes her sleeve and wipes Tobin’s eyes dry. She studies Tobin’s face, her face mockingly intense. Tobin eventually meets her gaze, and the two lock eyes until Tobin blinks after a minute.

“I win!” Kelley says and the two fall onto the bed in laughter. When they recover, Tobin sighs contently and stares at the ceiling. Kelley rests her head right next to hers and tries to stare at the same dot.

~**~

Tobin asks Alex to hang back after practice the next day and Kelley wishes she could say she saw it coming. The truth was, she expected Tobin to mull over it for at least another week, to perfect down to the cadence her confession to Alex. But Tobin’s jaw is set in the same way it is before an important game. It serves as a reminder to Kelley just how powerful a catalyst for change love is, and that whatever she knows of Tobin now will change after this.

It actually bothers her to think that Alex may wind up knowing more of Tobin than she does. There are things only Alex will see, expressions Tobin will only show to her, and secrets she’ll only reveal to that one person. Even though they’re not things Kelley wants to know, they’re just friends after all, a part of her mourns the potential end of her monopoly on Tobin Heath.

They’re both glowing when Kelley sees them at dinner and Tobin’s ears are pulled back when Alex painstakingly clings to her side. They sit together, and Kelley doesn’t pick up her tray to join them. She sits alone, it’s a better vantage point anyway, and watches the way they just stare at each other. Their lack of conversation and their abundance of silly, lopsided, love-stricken smiles tell Kelley all she needs to know about how their talk went.

“Hey.” She’s so lost staring at the new couple that she doesn’t hear Hope approach her at all. She starts, and laughs at her own reaction.

“Hey, what’s up?” Hope shrugs and sits down next to her. She follows Kelley’s gaze to the table where Alex is now tracing shapes on the table.

_She’s drawing a heart, I’m going to throw up._

“So what’s up with that?” Hope nods her head towards the two of them and Kelley pauses a beat.

“What do you mean?” It doesn’t register until Hope’s already talking that she’s not the only one who’s observing the two.

“I’m getting cavities.” Hope replies with a smile. Kelley turns her attention back to Tobin and Alex. As much teasing as she’s done and as much as she’s happy to see Tobin smile like she’s never smiled in her life, she feels a pang of loneliness already. And it’s silly, really, because if anything she’s gaining a friend, not losing one. But if sitting alone is any indication, and if Tobin - who can only see Alex at the moment - can’t even look over and acknowledge Kelley’s existence then the honeymoon period has begun and Kelley has been regulated to the sidelines temporarily.

 _It’s ok._ _I’ll be here when it’s over._

“You doing ok?” Hope asks, her eyes scanning Kelley’s face. Kelley shakes her head, breaking her trance.

“Yeah, yeah, why?” Hope taps her lips.

“You chew the insides of your cheek when you’re worried or bothered.” Kelley’s whole body freezes, including her teeth pressed firmly to the insides of her mouth. She hadn’t realized she was doing it until Hope pointed it out.

“Oh, I’m not...” Hope stares pointedly at her, daring her to lie. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s Tobin.” The older woman cuts in and Kelley shifts in her seat uncomfortably. She breaks into a smile, one painfully forced and rolls her eyes.

“Whatever, Hope.” She stands up, tray in hand and plate still full. Hope sits back in her chair and plays with her plastic spoon, running the tip of her index finger across the tip of the curve, making a faint scraping noise. Kelley glances back at Tobin and Alex, who are now sitting so close, their foreheads are almost touching. She’s used to reading, not being read and it occurs to her for the first time that people might be watching her in the same way she watches Tobin, and in the way Tobin watches Alex. She’s spent so much time keeping an eye on Tobin, that she’s completely forgotten that someone may be learning the meaning behind the way her eyebrows lift high on her forehead.

It means she’s doing her best to smile.

She sits back down and Hope stares at her until she opens her mouth to respond to Hope’s silent inquiry.

“I guess I’m a little worried. You know, whatever that is.” They both smile and glance over to the suddenly empty table. Kelley snorts and rolls her eyes. “Maybe I shouldn’t go back to my room right now?” Her eyes fall on Hope’s hands. She’s playing with the label on her Gatorade bottle intently, and her lips are pursed.

_I know nothing about you._

“Well, you and Tobin have been friends for what, years now? I wouldn’t worry.” Hope replies. She picks at the label until it comes apart and then starts scratching at the glue that held it there. “Do you...like...her?” Kelley laughs aloud when she hears that.

“No, no, Tobin and I are just friends. Really good friends.” She replies. “See, if I like someone, I would totally...” Her voice hitches in her throat but her mind completes it.

_Tug at the baby hairs on the back of my head._

Her hand comes back around and rests on the table. The words on her skin burn so brightly.  


End file.
